Extrajudicial resolution of consumer disputes

At the end of March, Belgium’s legislative bodies adopted a bill that inserts a new Book XVI into the Economic Law Code and which should make it possible for consumer disputes to be handled extrajudicially in a generalised manner. The bill transposes the so-called ADR directive (European Directive 2013/11/EU on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes) into Belgian law. The first objective of the bill is to strengthen the proper handling of complaints by companies themselves. If a company has a complaints department, its contact information must be communicated to the consumer. The company must do everything in its power to find a satisfactory solution to a possible complaint. If a consumer dispute does not find a solution within a reasonable period and if the company is in any way obliged or willing to do so, it communicates to the consumer the details of the competent entity for extrajudicial resolution of the dispute. In order to ensure fulfilment of the European requirement that the possibility of extrajudicial resolution of consumer disputes applies for all economic sectors, an umbrella Consumer Ombudsman Service is set up. The Consumer Ombudsman Service has three missions: 1°) inform consumers and companies about consumer rights and duties and the possibilities for extrajudicial resolution of a consumer dispute; 2°) play a central role by serving as the counter for submitting requests for extrajudicial resolution of consumer disputes and passing them on to the competent "qualified entity", i.e. a private entity or one formed by a public authority that does extrajudicial resolution of consumer disputes and which appears on the list that the Federal Public Service (FPS) Economy draws up and notifies to the European Commission in implementation of the above-mentioned directive; 3°) act itself when there is no qualified entity that is competent to handle the request. The Consumer Ombudsman Service possesses far-reaching investigative powers in that respect. A request for the handling of a consumer dispute by the Consumer Ombudsman Service or qualified entity suspends the common-law prescription periods until the day on which it is communicated to the parties that the request has been refused, or what the result of the extrajudicial procedure is. Such a request also suspends any collection procedure that was initiated by the company during the same period.     The new provisions enter into effect on the day following their publication in the Belgian Official Journal.